Reflection

Class: Yr 11 & 12 Drama

Date: 17/10/12
Lessons 5/6
Mentor Teacher: Mr Andrew Hammond

Time:

Today I continued teaching the Australian Theatre unit to the senior drama
students. Using feedback from last lesson, I have ensured I have learned
more about my students by consulting with my mentor teacher. He
showed me their previous results and discussed the units they had
previously studied. This allowed me to adapt the lesson plan to suit their
prior knowledge. This also allowed me to have a little insight into the
ability of the class; which is a mid-level to low-level class. This is
predominantly due to their lack of enthusiasm and dislike of theory work.
My mentor showed me the students markbooks and portfolios (as this is a
senior OP subject) which reinforced my assessment of their ability.
When discussing information about individual students, my mentor also
asked how much experience I had with Indigenous students to which I
responded I had little and would like to know more. As the students were
studying an Australian Aboriginal play called My Murras (My Hands), any
information my mentor would give me would not only improve my
knowledge of the students, but also the content to be taught. We
discussed relevant cultural beliefs such as not looking elders in the eye, as
it is seen as a sign of disrespect to the Aboriginal people. One of the
students Mariah, even speaks the language of the local Yuibera tribe. I
was able to then incorporate her knowledge when studying the text, to
help create meaning for the rest of the class (as some of the play was in
Aboriginal). I also discussed with my mentor the socioeconomic
background of most of the students at this school, which is generally quite
low. Many students travel far to go to school, as it is also the only High
School in the Sarina area. Surprisingly, my mentor did disclose that Mariah
comes from an affluent family and is one of the high achievers in the class
(if she is not distracted). All of this extra knowledge about the individuals
of the class allowed me to adjust for them in my lesson plans and create a
lesson that was more engaging.
As discussed with my mentor, this class does not like theory. I decided to
make this more interesting for them, by presenting the information on a
PowerPoint. I also included a video example (on Youtube) of the warm up
activity I wanted to implement after completing the theory. Whilst the
students were still reluctant to do the theory, they were enticed by the
use of technology (as my mentor does not often use it). This could have
been implemented a little better, as there is no projector in the room, so I

could only show them from my laptop. This was adequate as this is only a
small class. Overall the lesson went as planned and the extra knowledge
of the students academic and cultural backgrounds was quite useful in
planning the lesson and building a rapport with the students.